Bridge to Sihoť, Karlova Ves, Bratislava

Sihoť is the largest

river island River Island is a London-based, multi-channel fashion brand, founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis. The retailer has a presence in over 125 of worldwide markets, in stores and online. Best known for its trend focused womenswear offering, River Isla ...

on the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , ...

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% o ...

, the capital of

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

, located in the district of

Karlova Ves Karlova Ves ( hu, Károlyújfalu, german: Karlsdorf) is a borough in the city of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is located in the western part of the city close to the river Danube on the slopes of the Little Carpathians mountains and ...

. The island lies between the main flow of the

to the north and the parallel channel Karloveské rameno to the south, between Devínska cesta in Bratislava and the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n border. It contains a culturally protected water source supplying

tap water Tap water (also known as faucet water, running water, or municipal water) is water supplied through a tap, a water dispenser valve. In many countries, tap water usually has the quality of drinking water. Tap water is commonly used for drinking, ...

to a large portion of Bratislava citizens, as well as numerous nearby villages. Under

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society ...

, access to the island was restricted due to its proximity to the

n border and the only access

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

to the island was guarded by soldiers. Access to the island remained forbidden even after the end of communism and today, access is highly restricted. Since 15 May 2012, the island is a protected area and there is currently an initiative to declare the island a national park and connect it with the neighboring

Danube-Auen National Park Donau-Auen National Park (german: Nationalpark Donau-Auen) covers 93 square kilometres in Vienna and Lower Austria and is one of the largest remaining floodplains of the Danube in Middle Europe. The German word ''Aue'' (variant ''Au'') means ...

in Austria.

History

In the past, Sihoť was called "Käsmacherinsel" in German and "Syrársky ostrov" in Slovak. The name is derived from the dwellings of peasants who processed milk. It was the largest Danube island in all of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephe ...

. The area was inspected by Bernhard Salbach from

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

in 1881–1882 and the island was found to be a good water source. Salbach also designed the system supplying drinking water to the historical center of the city, which remains operational until today. Bratislava established its first waterworks in the 1880s, becoming one of the first cities in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

to build a

water supply system A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following: # A drainage basin (see water purification – sour ...

. The first pilot well was dug on Sihoť island in 1882 and it is preserved as a historical monument until today. After the properties of the water were confirmed to be sound, construction work was ceremonially launched. Besides the well, the first facilities of the waterworks included a pumping station at

and a reservoir at Somársky vrch. A regular supply of high-quality drinking water has been provided ever since. The main waterworks were built in 1885.

Description

The 235

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

-area of the island belongs to the company Štátne Lesy, which is conducting timber harvesting on the island despite the area being protected. All water wells, water supply infrastructure and all buildings and roads on the island belong to the Bratislava Water Company. The island is part of the hunting ground Devínska Kobyla which is casually used by the hunters for the last 60 years, despite the area being protected. In 2007, the head of Štátne Lesy Jozef Minďáš signed a contract with hunting organization Klenovica giving it the right to hunt on the island for 10 years for the fee of 440

euro The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

per year. Animals being hunted on the island include

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

and

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a fo ...

Flora and fauna

Most of the island is forested with the remnants of the primeval

riparian forest A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, sink or reservoir. Etymology The term riparian comes from the Latin word ...

that is partially flooded during high water levels on the

each year and during extreme events, most of the island becomes submerged. At least since 1886, public access to the island was largely prohibited due to the protection of the drinking water supply system. Due to low human activity, wildlife is abundant on the island. Sihoť features a variety of protected plants including

Snowdrops ''Galanthus'' (from Ancient Greek , (, "milk") + (, "flower")), or snowdrop, is a small genus of approximately 20 species of bulbous perennial herbaceous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae. The plants have two linear leaves and a sin ...

Lily of the Valley Lily of the valley (''Convallaria majalis'' (), sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native throughout the cool temperate N ...

and

Lesser celandine ''Ficaria verna'' (formerly ''Ranunculus ficaria'' ), commonly known as lesser celandine or pilewort, is a low-growing, hairless perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae native to Europe and Western Asia. It has fleshy da ...

. The ecosystem is largely intact, save for some limited legal logging. Animals include:

beavers Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...

and

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sihot River islands of Slovakia Islands of the Danube

History

Description

Flora and fauna

See also

References